Keep Your Eyes Ahead (CD)

The Helio Sequence

1 Used

Amoeba Review

01/29/2008

The Helio Sequence have grown up quite a bit in the last 6 years. Their first two albums, and the Young Effectuals in particular (my favorite album of the decade, thus far) are exercises in "optimalism," which is a word I made up to contradict minimalism. The "optimalism" I write of consists of layers of huge guitars, thunderous drums, and reverb-drenched vocals, on top of bass-grooved electronics, bouncy blips, and angelic bridges. A mouthful, I know, but if you heard it, you'd understand - "optimalism."

Enter their latest effort Keep Your Eyes Ahead. The sound they are adopting now is a bit more organic and from the heart. Many of the big, ambitious guitars have given way to more scaled down acoustic guitars and arpeggios. Brandon Summers is singing like he wants to be heard, expressing an interesting duality of outspokenness and introspection - almost Dylan-esque in his delivery at times. Benjamin Weikel may be my favorite drummer around. He's so precise and skillful, but SO rhythmic and emotive - he drums with his whole body. On this record, he further proves his diversity by showing more of a touch via a "less is more" philosophy. Don't get me wrong, there are still traces of the "optimalism" on this album that they are so good at - particularly on "Can't Say No," which I put in contention to be the most worthy single. However, the new sound they are adopting doesn't sound forced. It feels like a natural progression - not an obvious one, but natural nonetheless.